nagaland
Life of 13-year old trans boy & experiences of filmmaking awarded at Nagaland Film Festival
Morung Express news
Nawa- Spirit of Atey (Non-fiction) and Fade in (fiction) won the awards in their respective categories during the Second Nagaland Film Festival today.
The award ceremony was held under the theme “Celebrating films from Northeastern India” organized by Department of Information and Public Relations (DIPR) in collaboration with Film Association of Nagaland (FAN).
Nagaland Chief Secretary Temjen Toy, IAS speaking at the valedictory function called to “make Nagaland a destination for films” noting that while “filmmaking in Nagaland if compared to other Northeastern states is still in a nascent stage but has a huge conservatory of creative minds and posits all forms of talents.”
He also assured that “starting from now, the government will play an active role of a facilitator and also facilitate in having at least one theatre in Nagaland.” He was also of the opinion that filmmaking grows on it’s own but at the same time the sector of budding filmmakers requires a lot of support regarding funds and others where the government has a lot of roles to play.
All these, however will not be made possible on it’s own, he said and called the filmmakers fraternity’s constant support.
“Pooling of resources would play an important role in bringing out the Northeast as a whole,” he added. He hoped that in the coming years, with each festival, the promotion of filmmaking will grow from strength to strength in terms of facilities and contents.
Nilotpal Majumdar, a panelist also pressed for theatre in Nagaland and commissioning of filmmakers in the state.
Utpal Borpujari, a national award winning film critic turned filmmaker who was among the Jury for competition announced the awards.
Nawa- Spirit of Atey (Non-fiction) is a prologue about the life of a 13-year old trans boy from Manipur. Directed by Santa Kuria and Amar Maibam from Manipur, the film runs for 9 minutes 58 seconds. It explores the lives of indigenous trans children like Atey, their lived experiences, the challenges they face and how their families and the larger community negotiate with their own biases to give a better life to their trans children. In the movie, it is depicted that Atey takes interest in sports and other art forms.
Fade in, running 6 minutes and 10 sec is directed by Ankurjyoti Deka from Assam. In an attempt to make a short film for a film festival, a young group of film enthusiasts finds out that filmmaking is not as glamuorous as it looks.
Strength in diversity, a film by Chentei Khiamniungan was given special mention for filmmakers from Nagaland. The film is about the filmmaker’s grandmother who grows stress-resistant crops.
Altogether, 20 films (fiction) and six (non-fiction) in competition category and 17 in Non competition category were screened at the festival.
